Nowadays, movie studios are capable of doing anything in order to convince viewers to watch their motion pictures, be it at the cinema or at home. Movie trailers have become more spectacular than the full versions and thus they often get us pretty excited. Unfortunately, quite often we exit the cinemas or turn off the TV with great disappointment because we expected the movie to live up to its trailer. There are several ways you can tell movie trailers are deceiving and avoid being tricked by the movie studios once again.
1. They Feature Effects That Do Not Belong in the Movies
Nowadays any fragment of our imagination can be transferred to the big screen. Whether we are talking about places, landscapes or even characters, anything is possible. Remember that awesome scene you saw in the trailer that never appeared in the full version of the movie? Well, you are not the only one. For instance, the movie Red Eye was set to belong to the thriller genre. However, the trailer painted the idea of some supernatural aspects. Viewers were deceived by the main character’s red eyes and thought there might be something more to him. Unfortunately, the movie was about something else entirely.
2. They Include Voice-Overs From Characters That Are Barely in the Movies
Another one of the ways you can tell movie trailers are deceiving is by their voice-overs. Many blockbusters or superhero movies are promoted by using heavy footage of action scenes, some comedic lines and an important character holding a dramatic speech. However, in some promos this character might not be a big part of the full motion picture, and thus get you excited for nothing. After Earth was one of these movies. We all thought the action will be centered on both Will and Jaden Smith, but instead it was Jaden’s movie all the way.
3. They Present Moments Created From Cutscenes
There have been plenty of times when our interest was piqued by a certain scene promoted in a movie trailer. However, upon exiting the cinema we realized that we have not actually seen that particular moment during the motion picture. There are two possible explanations for this. Either the included bit was part of a scene that ended up being cut from the final version, or the moment was created especially for the promo by cutting small bits from different parts of the movie. In the first case, you might still be able to see the scene in the extended edition, in the second case, not so much, because the moment does not actually exist. A good example is the trailer for Batman V. Superman when Doomsday is revealed. You can clearly notice Batman being in a car and in the next moment he can be seen standing out of the vehicle.
4. They Showcase A Bit Too Much Action
Hercules (2014) can provide you with one of the ways you can tell movie trailers are deceiving. The promo featured the protagonist played by The Rock fighting numerous monsters from the mythical legends. It seemed wonderful but also extremely expensive to film all these scenes in detail. In the end, it became clear that the moments were taken from a special montage featured in the beginning of the movie. Keep in mind that you might be tricked if you witness too many diverse action scenes in a promo.
5. They Do Not Showcase Enough Action
On the other hand, the aforementioned theory can go the other way around too. The Grey starring Liam Neeson was expected to be an action-packed survival movie, mostly because early footage showed the actor about to start a fist-fight with a bunch of wolves. However, the trailer never presented any actual fighting. This was an early sign that the motion picture was actually all about an attempt of survival in the wilderness. In the end, one of the best ways you can tell movie trailers are deceiving is to pay close attention to the details. The clues are all there.
